Vim & Vigor Articles

Central Laboratory

Behind the Diagnosis

The Central Laboratory at the hospitals of Community Healthcare System provides the highest quality diagnostic services for physicians and patients. Our Laboratory offers the most secure, state-of-the-art methods to evaluate patient specimens - including blood and other fluids, tissue biopsies, surgical resections, and other samples.

We're dedicated to quality patient care. The many and varied tests and procedures carried out in the Central Laboratory impact on the evaluation and treatment of virtually every patient in the hospitals of Community Healthcare System, and, many of the outpatients cared for by our physicians. That's why we've changed our internal processes and invested in new technology to bring our patients quicker, more efficient results. We offer same day results for about 60-70 percent of the small tissue biopsies performed at the hospitals - breast biopsies and tissue biopsies of the bladder, lungs, prostate and skin, as well as endoscopic biopsies of the GI tract.

Processing some 2,200,000 tests annually, accurate and appropriate diagnosis is made through the combined expertise of our board-certified pathologists, certified medical scientists and technicians and highly sophisticated testing instrumentation and equipment. We are among the first hospital laboratories in the nation to utilize bar code technology as an added safety measure in processing surgical specimens.

To meet the needs of patients and physicians throughout the region, the Central Laboratory of Community Healthcare System performs tests 24 hours a day, seven days a week and includes:

anatomical/surgical pathology

chemistry

clinical microscopy

hematology

a blood bank

microbiology

molecular testing

support services

In cases where more specialized testing is called for, the Central Laboratory partners with Mayo Medical Laboratories.

Our quality-controlled program has received a full system accreditation by the College of American Pathologists - a distinction that only 100 other hospital systems across the nation have attained. The accreditation attests to the rigorous laboratory standards set in place to help ensure the highest quality patient care.